


Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Amethyst Rescuers

by Gengarzilla



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team & Blue Rescue Team
Genre: Acts of Kindness, Amnesia, Anxiety, Caves, Corruption, Disguise, Dreams, Earthquakes, Forests, Gen, Memory Loss, Mountains, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Third Person, Pokemon Fanfiction, Rescue, Secret Identity, Secret Organizations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2020-11-22 17:07:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20877704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gengarzilla/pseuds/Gengarzilla
Summary: When a Trapinch with huge hopes of joining a great Rescue Team heads into the Tiny Woods after last night's savage earthquake, he sought to find at least one high ranked band of Pokémon who would take him under their wing. Fates soon conspired to throw the individual named Terack a curveball on his path, in the form of an amnesiac Togepi who shockingly claims to be a human.Just like him, she was here for a reason, though she couldn't recall it without her lost memories. This sudden encounter sends these two on a coming-of-age adventure as a Rescue Team across Musanokair, a land ravaged by unnaturally frequent natural disasters, as Terack and the self-christened "Flutter" go on to make lifelong companions and learn what these calamites mean for this world, as well as try to uncover the mystery behind Flutter's predicament.Soon they learn that other beings from Flutter's world live on this continent, but most of them nurse a grudge against her kind for past wrongs suffered at their hands. The sight of yet another human seemingly chasing them here during their self-imposed exile triggers a life-risking conflict that creates enemies and tests friendships.This is a story where chance becomes destiny...





	1. Baby steps

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there and welcome to the first chapter of my Pokémon Mystery Dungeon fanfiction, Amethyst Rescuers! I would like to thank you for taking time out of your day to chug down this glass of alphabet juice with me.
> 
> If you're interested in a quick history on this fic's existence, it first saw light when I shared the beginning chapter on July 4th 2016 on a PMD RP forum, me being into roleplaying at that time. It was originally completed on January 11th 2017 and then I went to share it more publically on the Bulbagarden Forums as Azure Rescuers on September 22nd that same year, attempting to make the product better than before. It reached Chapter 15 on November 14th 2018 but thanks to a severe bout of writers block that hit during the editing of the next chapter, everything from that point has not been uploaded as of the time I type this. Now that my drive is reclaimed and the fic is renamed (a superficial looking thing for a fairly unknown story but I think it has helped me), I'm ready to get stuck back in!
> 
> This fanfic was born through a combination of love for the PMD sub-series of games and my own interest in writing, being the first serious fic I have produced (and the first of a series if I'm up for it, I do have ideas). I learned from my time amongst the various authors in BMGf that I certainly have a long way to go, but I believe accepting that fact and putting a lot of heart into these words has to mean something good. At least, that's what I'd like to think. _(:'зゝ∠)_
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy the traditional "ZOMG I've become a/an *insert Pokémon species here* and I don't remember anything!" opening chapter, and indeed, everything afterwards!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fateful encounter between a human and a Pokémon. Neither could have guessed what laid ahead of them.

The young Trapinch relayed his plan to himself for perhaps the fifth time as he stated down the path leading beyond Pokémon Square, ready to set off. Inwardly he chastised himself for the predominantly selfish motivation; he was setting out to the Tiny Woods on the day after its terrible earthquake last night with the hope of finding a strong Rescue Team.

"Of _course_ I'd find rescuers here! They flock to these places so they can help those in danger, not so they can hold auditions!"

"B-but, maybe I could help them out while we're there?"

"Perhaps I could, though will they be impressed if they find out why you're truly there? Would the team who saved me back then honestly approve of it?"

Terack quietly grumbled as this internal conflict waged out, finally agreeing to the critical side of his head that, no, Team Energy wouldn't be best pleased by his course of action and that he'd also try to help someone in need even if there was no luck on joining a Rescue Team. It did well to appease his conscience.

That said, he'd certainly love backup. What was so selfish about wanting a friend to watch over you? Everyone deserved this, right?

* * *

_"You're still going to go through with this? I wouldn't look at you any less favourably if you'd like to keep your memories now..."_

_"I haven't changed my mind. Father is getting worse and I was never p-prepared to take his role. I know it sounds selfish but I still think it would be better for your world if I don't remember this. I c-can't live up to everyone's expectations here."_

_"I understand. Selene, before you forget, I am truly sorry to landed you in that unenviable position. If I knew Jericho had certain-"_

_"It's ok. You needed help and he freely offered it. I might have been upset and scared when he disappeared but I'm not holding it against you. That's just not how I was raised."_

_"Thank you again. You may not remember me when you pass through to this world, but I will remember you fondly. Please ta-"_

"H-hey, are you okay there! Did something attack you?!"

It was this latest voice which pierced through the veil separating imagination from reality, as it sounded far more real and constant in her head than the rapidly disintegrating conversation prior to it. All of a sudden, the human girl was aware of her own existence, her eyes shooting open in a jolt. The first actual thought that came to mind was how dazed she still felt and why she was stuck on her back, unable to right herself no matter how hard she waved her stubby limbs.

Thankfully there was some help at hand, as a body that she dimly took to be the source of that voice managed to tilt her back onto her feet somehow. Now upright, she could begin to fully appreciate just how odd she felt in her own body, as if she had all so suddenly gorged on enough food to become... round.

"Oh good, you don't look hurt. I was quite worried when I saw you just lying there like that. How are you feeling?"

That speaker again. They did sound concerned for her safety, so she thought it was only polite to reassure them since her only ailments weren't physical. "I-I think I'm alright. I'm just a little d-dizzy right now." she stammered, those words taking an alarming amount of effort to form as she managed to turn around to see the speaker, an orange individual around her size with a round body, four stumpy legs, a large head, and a zigzagging mouth hanging lightly open.

It was only by comparing the creature's size to one of the nearby trees in this forest area where she really began to panic. "Wah?! Why is that tree so big? What's going on?!" the human cried out in shock. Had she been shrunk, or was she somehow trapped in a giant's garden?

"Huh? These trees are normal size, it's just that us Trapinch and Togepi are kinda small. Are you sure you're ok?" Terack asked in a sympathetic tone, though he looked at her as if he thought her bonkers.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure I'm fine now that I'm the size of an-" she started, still panicking, until some of those words finally struck home. "Wait. Hold on. What did you just call me? I'm a human, not this Togepi thing!"

Now this was just getting really unsettling for the Trapinch. Not only were humans supposed to be a long-extinct species consigned to historical records from several centuries ago, but this individual in front of him didn't even look the part. Either she had taken a serious whack to the head, or she was a bad liar. The latter felt unlikely though; she appeared genuinely shocked by this whole thing. "No, you are _definitely_ a Togepi here. Just take a look at your hands and tell me what you think."

So she did, the odd sensation of this body not being hers still nestled in her brain.

And it was exactly as the Trapinch insisted; she saw two featureless and stubby yellow hands instead of the four fingered humanoid ones she expected. Stunned already, a subsequent glance down towards her supposed feet only revealed that an eggshell of some sort with red and blue triangular shapes all over it was encasing most of her body. "What? WHAT?! I was... but I was so sure that I'm a human! How did this-" the human-turned-Togepi exclaimed, before shock turned to fear as she found out another worrying fact. "I can't r-remember anything either... Where I was going, what I was doing here, e-e-even what m-my name is!"

The individual bearing witness to this fretful episode was now completely convinced of her authenticity. As far as he believed, nobody could put _that_ much effort into a lie. She really did look confused and frightened. "H-hey, miss, it's ok! If you need someone to look out for you then I'll do whatever I can!" Terack spontaneously declared. Here, in front of him, was someone who really needed more help than anyone he'd seen before. He didn't envy this stranger's situation; complete amnesia was one of the scariest things in the world and he knew it.

Not to forget being a human mind in a Pokémon's body either. All at once, this girl had lost everything that she'd ever experienced in her life and been transformed into a wholly unfamiliar self. There was absolutely **no** way he could ignore her plight.

"Y-you'll help me out? Thank you!" the Togepi spoke gratefully, already calming down now that he'd said that. The mere thought that she might at least have someone looking out for her did a lot to take the edge off her apprehension. It would certainly be many times easier than going through it all without support or companionship. "What's your name?" she asked, a lot more evenly now.

It warmed his heart to see this lost soul settle down once he reached out to her. Terack knew he'd made the right decision here. "A lot of Pokémon don't bother with names, but my name is Terack. I just wish I had a name for you though; I couldn't just call you Togepi since you're actually a human underneath that, so-"

"Help! Oh my goodness, help! Someone, please!!"

Another new voice came forth, this time from a passing female Butterfree who looked just as distressed as Flutter had been just a few moments ago. Terack wasted no time in getting her attention. "Hey, lady, is something wrong? You look like you need a hand." Terack queried, noting that her flight appeared wonky and weak.

"I-it’s my little boy Caterpie, he’s just fallen in the fissure that opened up at the other end of these woods last night!" the terrified Butterfree exclaimed, to the alarm of both listeners. Terack was particularly shaken; this was, word for word, the exact situation Team Energy had saved him from as an infant. "I tried to fly down there and save him, b-but the local Pokémon are still wound up by the earthquake. A Pidgey hurt one of my wings and now I can't m-make it by myself!" she wailed, actually looking fit to cry. Even Flutter hadn't gotten to the point of tearing up about her problem.

What else could the two say? There was nobody else around and this was a mother whose child was in danger. Terack was quick to reassure her that they would head into the Tiny Woods to save her kid and sped off with the like-minded Togepi on his heels, who quietly attributed the seriousness of the situation as why she hasn't already tripped over her unfamiliar feet ten times now.

Even in this situation, Terack hadn't missed how quickly his new friend seemed to cast aside her own troubles when someone else needed help. He couldn't help but wonder whether that was purely spontaneous or a built-in trait from her human life, but either way it had gotten his attention... and given him an exciting thought for the future, assuming she accepted.

* * *

Soon, their decision had led them deep into the woods, where navigating their way through the trees felt like some sort of maze. Several agitated Pidgey, Sunkern, and Wurmple previously made attempts to attack but they weren’t able to hold up that much of a fight against a duo who consistently had each other's backs. "Do you think we’re getting close to the Caterpie now?" Terack asked her as he used his Sand Attack on a Wurmple, the sand kicked into his opponent's face causing a Tackle to miss before he finished the skirmish by clamping down with a fierce looking Bite.

"I’m not sure, maybe we could be close by now? Heads up!" the Togepi replied, letting loose with a Growl to distract the Sunkern behind him. As he defeated the inhibited Pokémon, she found herself secretly glad for the opportunity to move about and attempt to adjust to this new form. In addition to Growl, she also knew a stronger version called Charm and a wildly unpredictable move called Metronome. She had also seen her new Trapinch companion use Mud Slap on top of his Sand Attack and Bite.

There was still no sign of Caterpie though, nor was there a quick and easy way to find the fissure that this kid had fallen in as neither of them could fly. Just as her eyes skimmed past some bushes while she looked around for this fissure though, a wave of tiredness suddenly collided with her like a freight train at full speed. For some weird reason that she couldn't comprehend, a nap sounded like the best thing in the world right about now. She had the impression that, if she were to _close her eyes now_, the urge would overcome her in a heartbeat.

This couldn't be allowed to happen. Not while that poor Caterpie needed help.

Instead of obeying this nagging compulsion to _sleep_ that was burning a hole in her mind, the Togepi instead gazed even harder at the bushes that brought this on, adamantly refusing to even blink, as though it had challenged her to a staring contest. Surprisingly, her unyielding glare at those bushes was hard enough to the point where she was sure she could see the outlines of six ovoid shapes within one of them, an unknowing application of her fourth move: Foresight.

"Terack, something’s in that leftmost bush!" she called to him in her slight daze. He took the cue, readying himself with Focus Energy before lunging straight into the said bush with Bite at the ready, now made more focused by a light blue outline around his jaws. A light blue burst of energy followed as the Exeggcute that had been attempting to covertly lull her to sleep with Hypnosis was thoroughly defeated on the spot by this empowered super-effective blow.

To say the least, Terack was surprised by her. "Whoa, how did you figure that out just by looking? I wouldn't have seen it by myself." he said upon emerging, to which his friend claimed truthful ignorance. For the time being, it would be just one more mystery about her for the growing pile.

Within a few more moments they had found the fissure and Terack began to dig a sloping tunnel, just like the characteristic sand pits of his species, down into it after getting a look at the deep drop. They’d be able to use that to bring the young Caterpie out from the crack. Flutter slid down after the Trapinch once the tunnel was completed and caught sight of a caterpillar-like creature nearby, back turned to them and crying. She could tell right away that this was Caterpie, almost in an instinctual manner.

"Hey, we’re here to help.” she said gently to the scared child. “Your mommy's waiting".

* * *

"My baby’s safe!" Butterfree called out in joy when they returned, Caterpie riding safely on Terack’s back. "I’m sorry, I really don’t know how to thank you brave Pokémon. Do you have names?"

"I’m Terack." he answered. "My friend here, well, she doe-"

"I'm Flutter." she suddenly decided, inspired both by the rested Butterfree's fluttering wings and the delighted feeling sending her heart aflutter at the sight of this relieved parent. "You don’t have to do or give us anything, I'm just so glad we were here when you passed by." the newly named Flutter insisted without hesitation.

Caterpie’s eyes lit up at this sentence. "Terack and Flutter... You're both so cool...!" he had to say, adoringly staring at his two. Terack found it just a little embarrassing but reciprocated joyfully all the same, seeing his younger self in the little boy. Flutter, primarily due to her total memory loss, couldn’t remember the last time she felt this happy. Both of them had undoubtedly taken a quick shine to the youngster.

"I’m glad that went without any problems. He was such a sweet kid." Flutter spoke up after the reunited mother and son left for home. "Maybe we'll see them again someday?"

"I hope so, but now we do need to talk about you since it's starting to get dark." Terack replied, hating to change the subject on her but finding it necessary. They were indeed approaching evening, a bad time to be out in the woods. "I'm just worried about you. Losing every last bit of your memory is already a s-scary thing, but humans don't actually exist here. It's possible that you're from a whole other world." he thought out loud. "Flutter, if there's anything you think you might need, don't feel afraid to ask. It's clear from the rescue that you're a kind person."

To say she was heartened by the compliment would be an understatement "I'm really glad you think that. I-If it's not too much trouble, I'd like-" Flutter started, before being interrupted by the feeling of rain lightly beginning to pour down from above. This just made her request all the more important, really. "I really need a safe place to stay at night. Do you have anything in mind? I hope it's not too much to ask... " she muttered, looking down at her shell as she finally absorbed the fact that she would be here for perhaps some time now that the post-rescue euphoria was finished. Terack had been eager to help her so far, and she didn't want to break that by asking too much.

"Hmm... I have an idea. Come with me." Terack said to Flutter after taking note of her apprehensive expression. He headed eastwards out from the woods, his new friend following close behind.

As it turned out, they had been watched throughout the whole conversation by a larger, blue duck Pokémon who happened to be investigating the area that day. "So naïve of that Trapinch, helping out one of those atrocious humans." this Golduck muttered from his hiding place behind a nearby tree. "He'll certainly realise his error with or without our _help_, but since I have a job to do..."

Inside one of his hands was a device with an alarming resemblance to a human's walkie-talkie, used to communicate with his associates from afar. "This is Dr. Rubix speaking with urgent news, mistress. I have made an alarming discovery in the outskirts of the Tiny Woods today and would like Derkomai to pick me up so we can discuss plans further." the individual named Rubix spoke.

"You certainly make it sound serious enough, doctor. What did you find?" spoke the harsh and deferential female voice on the other side. With just five more words from Rubix, Flutter suddenly gained a whole group of enemies.

"I have found another human."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I had originally intended to name this intellectually minded Golduck after the puzzling and popular Rubik's Cube, only to notice after the fic's original completion that I had been misspelling his name as Rubix the entire time. By that point, the name had grown on me so I decided to leave it as is. I think X is a cooler letter than K anyway.  
Keep an eye on that Golduck; he and his associates are gonna be important later on.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	2. New model, new team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two unwillingly become one, and then two decide to become one. The day where lifelong combinations are formed.

"Um, what's all this?"

Flutter the Togepi, formerly a human until she was found just outside the Tiny Woods with no memory of her past life, had awoken inside this strange location after going to sleep. The whole area, everything around her, had a rippling green glow about it but was otherwise utterly void of all life. Nothing else was there, nobody was with her, and she could hear nothing except for the sound of her own meek and confused voice.

"Is this... just a dream? It almost seems too real for that." she had to wonder. She couldn't quite recall how she ended up here, this scenario truly being the story of her life right now. "Hello? Is anyone else here? Hey?" Flutter called out with a dash of desperation lightly seasoning her tone.

To her surprise, she soon caught in the corner of her eye an elegant looking figure in green and white, who was indeed coming into view. The apparition never did progress beyond being barely visible though and the strange green mist that came forth on their arrival resulted in this transparent figure shimmering amongst it, like a poor quality video.

Whatever this being was, the sudden presence of a foreign voice inside her mind tipped Flutter off to one fact: It wanted to communicate with her. Tell her something, likely even something of importance. She began to concentrate carefully on the words fed to her.

Unfortunately, the elegant tone was practically indecipherable and Flutter simply couldn't make heads nor tails of what they were apparently trying to tell her. All she caught was the term 'Pokémon', which Flutter assumed were what the various odd creatures of this world could be referred to as. Nice, but why was she now one of these Pokémon herself?

Within a few moments, this thing vanished abruptly and everything then faded to black as though its departure somehow triggered this dreamscape's complete collapse. Flutter pleaded for them to stay before she too faded away...

...and woke up in a homely looking room, resting like an egg upon a mat of straw. "What was... what did I just see then?" the girl murmured once she picked herself up, still not completely adjusted to her new self. She had to take a moment to digest what she witnessed before choosing to set it aside as a dream brought on by her inlaid anxiety. "Y-yep, maybe I'm just scared. Maybe it'll all stop once I begin getting to the bottom of what happened." Flutter convinced herself.

After all, she was still in the body of a Togepi and nowhere closer to finding out why.

Trying futilely to calm her worries, she initially thought about just going back to sleep under the hope that all of this was a dream in itself and that she would wake up back where she belonged, before remembering that it hadn't been all bad here.

Yes, there was that Trapinch. The ridiculously generous one who had already gained her undying trust...

> "And here we are!" Terack announced once he and Flutter reached a very small and simple looking wooden cottage with just one storey, surrounded on all sides by lush, verdant trees. The roof bore a resemblance to the top of a strawberry, complete with a green stalk at the top. Situated outside was a mailbox, currently empty.
> 
> It was very nice and peaceful looking overall, but with one tiny problem. "Is this your home? It's smaller than I expected, I hope I don't take up too much space." Flutter responded hesitantly.
> 
> Nothing could have prepared her for Terack’s reply. "Please don't worry about a thing! Truth is, Flutter, I'm giving you the entire place."
> 
> Flutter wasn't sure if she'd heard him correctly. It was as if her brain just short-circuited; she knew by now that the Trapinch felt deeply sympathetic for her difficult position and would do anything to help her through it all, but this was beyond her expectations! He'd just _given her a house_ without thinking twice! This alone, a constant, a place to call home, would take such a tremendous weight off her chest!
> 
> "I thought that you'd be blown away. Truth is, I only bought this place a week ago because it's convenient, there's a small town called Pokémon Square further along that road which is full of shops." he explained after she failed to respond. "I'm used to living and sleeping under the stars anyway, you need that bed, those walls, and a roof far more than I do."
> 
> That would explain it, but either way, the gesture was near-overwhelming. Here he was, with a place of his own to call home, and he was freely moving out for some amnesia-struck Togepi that he randomly encountered in the woods. "T-thank you... I really, really do owe you one, honestly..." she whimpered in a display of heartfelt relief and gratitude. It was a wonder that she didn't dissolve into messy tears.
> 
> "You don't owe me anything. I know we've basically just met, but I just... _r-really want_ to make sure you're healthy and happy. Complete memory loss is horrible." he spoke, his voice shaking somewhat. "Anyway, there's some apples and berries inside that I bought yesterday; go have your fill and I'll drop by tomorrow!"
> 
> Flutter couldn't help but notice that he'd forced out that last bit of cheer, but was becoming too tired to ask. Sleep beckoned for real.

"Ah, yes, he said he's going to come and see me. He's been really good to me already, I-I guess it would be rude if I just slept in on him." she decided. Having also remembered Terack's brief loss of composure through the recollection, Flutter soon made a course for that matter too.

She wouldn't push him for it. If he wanted to tell her, then he'd tell her. Flutter only hoped it would be something she could help with.

"Hey, I'm here. You awake?"

Flutter took a second upon hearing his voice to shake off whatever remaining signs of worry she bore on her face and then wandered outside to see him. "Hi! It's really nice to see you!" she replied with a smile, pleased as punch to see her new friend.

"Same here, Flutter! I hope you were ok last night. How did you sleep?" Terack asked, the almost characteristic concern still present. She had already thrown that dream to the back of her mind and deemed it as nothing of much importance, so she replied to him in the affirmative. If it turned out to be something unquestionably relevant to her situation, then he would be told. "That's good, I'm glad for that. Anything you've had some time to recall yet?"

The answer was very obvious, a definitive and unquestionable no. "I'm afraid not. Nothing's came up." Flutter responded to him. "I know I've got you, but... I'm still feeling a bit shaken by all this."

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm know something will surface soon if you just... t-take things nice and slowly, one day at a time." Terack responded encouragingly as usual.

There it was again, the break in his voice. Flutter spontaneously backpedaled; she didn't want to ignore that any longer. "Are _you_ ok though? That's twice you've sounded a bit off when I brought up my amnesia." the former human gently prodded. "If it's something I could help you with..."

He had to give her credit, that was a sharp deduction. "It's not something I've talked about before, but you'd probably understand this better than anyone, since you've... Y'see, before she passed away last year, my mo-"

"Beldum! Look left, that's them! I know they can help!"

Before he could begin his story, Terack was interrupted by the sound of a familiar child's voice and turned around to see who he was with. "Oh, Caterpie? Hi there! Who are you with?" he asked, noting that he was perched on top of a peculiar Pokémon species that consisted solely of a metallic body with a large red eye on one end and three white claws on the other end.

"You're Terack and Flutter? I'm Caterpie's friend, Beldum. He told me all about how you saved him from a mystery dungeon yesterday." the stranger answered, appearing to be in quite the hurry. "Can you both please come with us and save two-um, one of our friends from a dungeon too? I don't think we have a lot of time left..."

It definitely sounded urgent, undoubtedly, but Flutter and Terack still couldn't avoid taking quiet notice of Beldum's sudden switch in number from two to one. "Your, uh, friends are stuck? R-right, just tell us the story on the way!" the Togepi insisted, sprinting off behind Caterpie and Beldum while Terack followed up the rear.

Once again, quick to offer help, Terack noticed. He'd have to speak to her about his idea. _"Arceus, please say she'll agree...!"_ he privately thought.

* * *

"Alright, so to round it up..." Terack started, when the four Pokémon arrived at a cave whose gaping entrance emanated with sparks of yellow electricity after Beldum had told his story. "This is Thunderwave Cave, two of your three Beldum friends were exploring that mystery dungeon and were stuck together by an electromagnetic wave that flowed through it. Because a Beldum would normally go through evolution by fusing with another Beldum, we now have a terrified and completely unprepared Pokémon called Metang who's running wild in there, attacking everything in his way. You need us to get him out of there even if we have to beat the panic attack out of him. I'm with you." he summarised quickly.

This whole thing was such an odd case. Pokémon Square's residents had told the Trapinch that one would only be able to evolve in Musanokair by fulfilling specific conditions and then stepping into the mystical springwater of a place called Luminous Cave, which had become completely inaccessible several months ago and thus rendered evolution impossible to all who couldn't leave the continent. As far as he knew, Metang's case was the first evolution achieved without that spring's water.

It was just too bad that the poor Pokémon didn't ask to be morphed into a whole new shape, Terack thought, with a glance at Flutter.

"Exactly, exactly!" spoke the other Beldum, who looked rather beaten up. The two remaining Beldum from this group of four friends didn't want to go together and risk having the same experience as the first two, so this one had decided to storm the cave alone while his friend went to find help should he fail. It was a chance encounter with Caterpie that led Beldum straight to Flutter and Terack. "There's one other thing though. Have you heard of the Wind?"

"The wind?" Flutter asked, perplexed. "What do you mean? There isn't any wind here."

By contrast, Terack looked horrified. "I have. It-it's really bad. Folks don't know where it comes from, but the Wind is a sort of mental corruption that affects Pokémon who spend too much time inside a single mystery dungeon at once, usually because they got lost in it or are too hurt to move." he spoke, quaking. "I've heard it was named for the deafening wind that its very close survivors reported hearing and the swirling purple mist that surrounded them. It's very slow acting and you're safe when you leave that dungeon, but once it finally g-gets you..."

"Then everything that would make you unique from other Trapinch or Togepi gets blown away, like dust in the wind. All sense of individuality, rational thought, your personality, habits, memories, all of it gets wiped from your head. Your given names would be meaningless to you and your prior friendships become irrelevant. You wouldn't _look_ any different on the outside-" their Beldum escort continued. "-but in reality, you'd just be a mindless drone. The Pokémon that roam mystery dungeons are practically controlled by those dungeons and attack all outsiders on sight. Rescuers, explorers, practically everyone, they all hate the phenomenon and regard its enslavement as a fate worse than death."

Flutter felt as though her insides had just been frozen. If they hadn't saved Caterpie in time...

"The day those dungeon researchers of Ruretawok's Expedition Society make a miracle cure will be the day we can finally rest easy." the beaten Beldum spoke solemly. "That phenomenon is currently irreversible when time runs out and it's considered an _act of mercy_ to use lethal force on the fully afflicted. Let them rest, some Pokémon say."

"That won't be necessary when we reach Metang." Flutter remarked in a clipped tone, her jangling nerves not showing up on a suddenly determined face, which startled Terack a bit. He couldn't have known it yet, but the anxious amnesiac actually did have some spine in her. "I promise, we'll get him before this Wind does."

* * *

The Togepi and Trapinch duo were soon embroiled within their race against time to find the wayward Metang, complete with a shabby pouch containing an Escape Orb provided by the Beldum, who explained how to use it and other Wonder Orbs. Fortunately, not a whole lot Wind-controlled Pokémon were showing up to impede them, and those that did were swiftly taken care of. They all appeared to be injured or otherwise beaten up. It was a rather unnerving sight, Flutter thought, as she and Terack used these Pokémon like a trail of candy mix leading them to their target.

Quite unusually, the duo also found a dull blue disc-like device which Terack identified by the colour shade and the TM32 engraving to be a Used TM for the move Double Team. Flutter wondered if it belonged to the two Beldum before they were forcibly evolved, but there wasn't time to mull over this matter further.

After getting past a Plusle and Minun duo backed up by an Elekid, she and Terack then reached a dead end room surrounded by water and saw the Pokémon that they were looking for: A blue, vaguely disc-shaped creature with red eyes and two arms which looked disturbingly similar to a Beldum's whole body. "Metang?" Flutter asked. "Can you hear me? Your two friends are waiting outside, let's go before the-"

Her sentence wasn't finished before those red eyes started glowing purple, upon which several purple ripples were expelled out from the Pokémon's pointed claws and struck both targets. Flutter was otherwise ok but Terack was a different matter, as the Confusion attack seemed to have left him badly dazed and incapable of combat. "What the...?! Terack, snap out of it!" Flutter deperately implored of him, to no avail. With Metang now advancing towards them, Flutter reluctantly conceded to the prospect of a straight one on one battle and darted towards the opponent.

Within moments, it was clear as day that this matchup was hopelessly one-sided in Metang's favour. In addition to the inherent Clear Body ability making Growl and Charm's power debuffs worthless, Metronome had so far insisted on calling out unhelpful moves such as shimmering pink Psycho Cut crescents that did almost nothing, shots of purple slime from Sludge that actually did do nothing, and False Swipe. Lastly, she didn't have Foresight under conscious control yet and it wouldn't have really helped her anyway. It was already going disastrously wrong.

And then it got, if possible, _even worse_, as she caught sight of a very faint purple mist beginning to form around Metang. At this visual indication of the Wind, a growling and frustrated Flutter practically lost all restraint and jumped at in this pitiful looking rudimentary tackle, such a stupid action being swiftly punished by a Metal Claw.

It was only her protective eggshell that prevented the pain from being slashed by shining silver claws from being too harsh, but it was damaging enough for a charging Take Down to knock her right out of this arena and into the surrounding water, where she weakly floated on the surface with nothing left to give. However, fate had thrown a bone to her efforts as the noise of their scuffle had finally roused Terack from his confusion.

He too noticed the purple mist, and so quickly prepared his Focus Energy and rushed into battle before Metang had really thrown off the resultant recoil damage incurred from Take Down, immediately connecting with a Bite attack to his left arm which really bothered him a good deal. Already, he was putting up a better fight.

The Trapinch soon got shook off however and their attacker then seemed to multiply into a group of five, a motion which struck uncertainty into the former human and the Pokémon. "S-so that's why we found a Double Team Used TM...!" Terack muttered, looking unsure of how to approach this situation. He had a one in five chance of hitting the correct Metang on his first try. Fail, and the real thing had an opening for real damage.

Flutter was seriously worried by now. She couldn't handle this guy by himself; if Terack chose poorly and got knocked out cold, Metang would certainly be lost. All she could do was watch.

And hope.

...Were four of those Metang supposed to be transparent?

"On the far left!" she called desperately, scrambling onto dry land with her eyes glowing light blue, ignoring the familiarity she felt regarding the situation. Foresight had done it again. "The rest are fakes!"

It was a show of their developing friendship that Terack took her words as gospel and ran one of his feet across the ground to toss a brown Mud Slap at the leftmost Metang. Though Clear Body cancelled any accuracy drops he would have received from the move's usual effect, the damage had been done and the four fakes vanished. "Whoa, how did you...?!" he quickly gasped before refocusing his priorities and grabbing the Metang from behind with another Bite, holding down harder and harder until the squirming Pokémon finally stilled.

"That... was tight." Flutter panted as Terack nodded in agreement, gently putting Metang's metallic form down as she strode towards the pouch left near the entrance of this room. Quietly she had to hand it to her shell, knowing that it probably saved her from being outright incapacitated by that one Metal Claw. Not to mention how she again picked out the correct target for Terack to lunge at.

Maybe, she thought as she prepared to strike the Escape Orb against the floor to activate it... this diminuitive form _does_ have benefits after all?

* * *

The trio were now back outside the dungeon and waiting by the entrance for Metang to regain consciousness. Prospects were already looking good since the Wind's visual indicator had vanished, but whether he would still lash out at them or not remained to be seen. Within a few minutes, the pair of red eyes were active and moving around as he took in the crowd: Flutter, Terack, Caterpie, and the two Beldum.

"What...? Where are we? What happened?" he quickly asked of his two friends, definitely back to his senses much to everyone's relief. Everything had turned out perfectly after all.

"You have had quite the adventure." Terack stated. "An electromagnetic wave went through that dungeon and it stuck you two Beldum together. It made you evolve out of nowhere, and the sudden occurence made you lose control of yourself. Caterpie led one of the other Beldum to me, Terack, and my friend here called Flutter. I'm afraid we, um, had to beat you up a bit so you'd let us save you from the Wind." he relayed.

A concerned "Oh..." was his only response to all that. "I'm... really sorry for the trouble I caused you both in there! R-really! I didn't know what I was doing, where I was, who you all were, which way was left, right, up, down, forwards, backwards, anything! My head was completely scrambled! If there's something I can do to fix this, please say it!" Metang panicked, even flailing his arms around. The foreign concept of having arms would likely take some getting used to.

"It-it's ok! Don't worry about it!" a shocked Flutter called out. "We know you didn't mean any of that, Metang." Flutter said to him, though she wasn't blind to the uncomfortable shiver that ran through his body. It didn't take long for her to understand what triggered this. "Oh, I guess you don't want to be called that? Sorry if I upset you just then." she apologised, backing off a little bit.

"Don't _you_ worry about it either!" he quipped jokingly, throwing her words back at her which elicited giggles all round. "I'll just come up with my own name. Beldum can communicate with each other by using telepathy so we didn't really think having unique names was very important, but now I'm going to think one up.

"Hey, which Beldum are you anyway?" a still chuckling Caterpie asked, maybe seriously, but maybe for fun. At this point, who knows?

"Oh, that's easy! I'm Beldum!"

* * *

"In a way, I really understand how that poor Metang must have felt. He and I are both stuck in new bodies without really being prepared for it." Flutter spoke up once they arrived back at her home in the early evening. "I'm sure the Beldum can take care of their buddy now. He seemed like a nice guy." she continued.

Uncharacteriscally, Terack wasn't 100% listening. After the second day in a row where they saw a Pokémon needing help and dove into a mystery dungeon to save one of their friends, his dream idea frankly couldn't be held back any longer. "Y'know... I could not have done this without you. I'm not kidding." Terack suddenly said. "Seriously, if you hadn't pointed me to the real Metang to hit then I know I could have been in trouble. I think you're something else." he insisted.

Flutter was surprised to hear this being put into words. Terack was generous, obviously, but compliments were somewhat more novel. "T-thanks, but I'm not sure how it even happened. It just, well, happened." she limply replied. "It can't continue being a fluke skill, I've _got_ to learn how to do this at will instead of letting it save my shell all the time."

"Hey, don't put yourself down too much. You've only been a Pokémon for two days now, what you need is more time." he gently insisted. "Oh, by the way, there was this idea I've been wanting to tell you ever since I saw you rush off to save Caterpie." Terack finally said at last, continuing his track when the former human showed interest. "What do you think about us forming a Rescue Team? The things that we've gotten up to in the Tiny Woods and Thunderwave Cave have been like a dream come true. This is the sort of stuff I genuinely saw myself doing for a living, but until now, I just couldn't get myself a teammate. We've only had two days to know each other but I'd say that we already make a good combination. Will you please do this for me?"

An even more surprised Flutter needed a few moments to think this over. To be in a Rescue Team... Obviously she didn't know what this was, but the name was indicative enough as to what the career entailed. Certainly it might prove challenging or stressful or frustrating at times; she learned that today in the three way fight against Metang and the Wind that threatened to blow his very being out like a candle. Sometimes they might even fail a job.

On the other hand though, Terack was clearly rather passionate about the idea of them going out there and saving other Pokémon as a real job. It was noble too, she had to respect him for that. The fact that he couldn't find a teammate though? That honestly confused her. From what she knew about Terack, it was amazing that throngs of Pokémon _weren't_ lining up and making requests. Or maybe they really were, and he just hadn't found the right one yet? Either way, she couldn't really ignore the glaring fact that he was asking her, the remember-nothing not-Pokémon from another world instead of someone who knew their way in this world.

Finally, this would also be an ideal way of keeping her mind away from the transformation from human to Pokémon, to quash her anxiety and perhaps more of those odd dreams. It played well into her own current hopes.

Flutter was at the precipice. A small voice in her head insisted that this would be her most important decision ever. Walk back and regret it, or take the plunge and not look back?

Her mind was made up.

Geronimo.

"Alright partner, I'm in. I'll do my best to keep up." she finally decided, to Terack's delight. He really was over the moon.

"Same goes to me! Happy to have you on board, pal!" he joyously declared. "Don't forget, I've always got your back! Like a shadow! Hahaha!"

Alas, not all shadows are so friendly, as the new rescuers would learn in time...

"Keh, a new set of rookies. Let's see if we can break our record on those twerps." a certain Pokémon muttered to himself before he slipped back out of sight. Their time would come soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think? This one got a lot more intense-looking than I ever thought possible! Excuse me while I change the rating because I believe the Wind probably pulls Amethyst Rescuers out of General Audiences territory quicker than I expected. :P
> 
> The idea to swap Magnemite for Beldum came to me like a Thunderbolt when I originally wrote the first edition of this chapter. I was basically looking over the Rescuers scenario where those two Magnemite are stuck in this weird proto-Magneton state, and I got to thinking "Hmm, are there any species that are formed by fusing two individuals?".  
Then I remembered Beldum and Metang. Even now, I'm so glad I thought of doing the Thunderwave Cave events this way. This isn't the last we'll see of these fo-um, three either.  
And yes, they are technically genderless but all of them prefer to be addressed with male pronouns. I tried, honestly, but there's no way I'd make it through the remaining chapters without messing up the gender-neutral pronouns. I'm sorry.
> 
> The Wind was a more recent idea for this revised edition that I picked up from Lucky_Guardian's PMD series: Galaxies Above (where it's called Dungeon Sickness), and I highly recommend checking out this user's works if you're a fan of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. This was just to introduce my take of the concept; you'll see the Wind with more importance in a few later chapters where I reveal a detail these characters didn't know about.
> 
> Musanokair (moo-san-o-care) is my name for the Air Continent and Ruretawok (roo-ray-ta-wok) is my name for the Water Continent. Much as I appreciate Super Mystery Dungeon giving names to each continent, they just don't sound right for fanfiction purposes. I have other names set up for the other continents and if I need to pull them in, I will. You'll definitely hear the Grass Continent's name in this story at the least.
> 
> Stay tuned, and feel free to drop a comment if you have questions or just want to chat! I plan to push out new chapters on a weekly schedule at the least!


	3. The doctor is in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Analytical eyes abound as a new team prepares to take on their first job. Fortunately, not all of them are from prospective foes.

Flutter, now part of an as-of-yet unformed Rescue Team, had just been on the receiving end of perhaps the worst wake up call that she could remember, in part due to her amnesia.

She had been in the middle of that very same dream from yesterday when the sound of a sudden earthquake had torn through the vicinity. Not even bothering to find the white and green figure again amongst such bedlam, she had retracted back into her shell and waited it all out until she woke up just in time to feel the rumbling dissipate.

"What... was that?! It couldn't have been another earthquake, right?!" she asked herself, startled by this wake-up call. Even she thought there was something very odd about this; two quakes in the space of three days. She assumed that the first one was harsh, seeing as it apparently created the fissure Caterpie had fallen into.

Now immediately filled to the brim with concern for what the earthquake may cause, like more open fissures for more kids to look out for, Flutter dashed outside to see if everything was ok. Nothing about her immediate surroundings appeared to be out of the ordinary however, leading to the swift conclusion that the epicentre of the quake was nowhere near being close to this area. This went nowhere towards lessening her surprise and worries though.

Flutter soon saw Terack, her Trapinch teammate, hurrying towards her in a mad dash. "Hey there, you ok? I guess you heard that last earthquake too." he immediately said between breaths. He had apparently gotten little sleep last night, as evidenced by a stifled yawn.

As it turned out, this whole night was particularly bad, it had been filled with the noise and commotion of them; Flutter only avoided having her sleep disrupted because her bizarre dreams were, for the most part, very deep ones. That was _certainly_ one benefit to them in this world, she idly thought. "I'm ok, Terack. Nothing fell off and hit my head or anyth- wait a minute." she suddenly trailed off, looking at him as though he'd sprouted a tail. "Did you say that last earthquake? How many of them were there? And all in one night?! Something about that doesn't sound normal." Flutter spoke.

"Ah, you got that right. It isn't normal. For a while now, Musanokair has been facing this strange outbreak of frequent natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, you name it and we've probably had it. It's just like the Wind; nobody really knows the cause and it's scaring everyone stiff." the Trapinch explained to her. "On top of that, I think it's been quite some time since the last Rescue Team formed. I hear a lot about the big names doing great things out there like A.C.T. or Hydro, sometimes Constrictor, but nothing about any new teams. You'd think more Pokémon would be inspired to follow in their footsteps, right?"

That... was a pretty good point, Flutter confessed. She might be new to this world and lacking her prior memories but the human-turned-Pokémon was by no means foolish, it was clear to her that Terack's world was up to its neck in some sort of calamity. Naturally this would lead to an upswing in tasks for Rescue Teams to perform. The lack of any recent teams was a concern for her as well; who'd be there to handle the backlog of rescue jobs when the famous teams were busy or otherwise occupied?

They could even become one of these big shot teams themselves, but Flutter found that she didn't really care for that. Her motivation was the thought that someone, somewhere, might sleep easier thanks to their work.

"Then we'll just have to change that. We'll be the inspiration. Maybe what they all need is to see some rookies climb their way up for once." she decided. "You know this stuff better than me, how do we get started?"

It pleased Terack to see his friend and teammate so eager to begin. He knew now in his heart that his time waiting had paid off.

"Alright, so we've got to head for the Pelipper Post Office on the other end of Pokémon Square. It's a straight shot down the path to our left over there." Terack explained, feeling excited to finally begin his dream career. "We'll pick up some forms there, fill those in, and the delivery Pokémon there will send them to the Pokémon Rescue Organisation. They'll register us as an official Rescue Team and send over our badges with a complimentary starter pack." he eagerly recited, as though he had been told this ages ago and committed it to memory. "Before we do that, maybe we should come up with a team name here? We'll need it for the registration."

That might be a good idea, Flutter decided. "Yep. Hmm, lemme see what I could come up with first." she suggested.

The first few moments of thought were fruitless, but Flutter refused to be discouraged. This would be like a second identity; no doubt she wanted to put as much contemplation into the thing as she could. She kept going, and...

_ "...... Celeste" _

"Celeste?" the Togepi gasped out suddenly, almost startled by the words that broke her concentration. What even was that? The voice sounded familiar but she couldn't place a finger on why it would be so.

"Celeste?" Terack repeated, believing that to be her suggestion. "Team Celeste? Hey, that sounds rather nice. It beats anything I've got. How did you come up with it?" he asked.

This would be awkward to describe. "Well, uh, I wasn't actually suggesting a name there. I've just heard this voice in my head say that word and it took me by surprise. I don't know what it's meant to mean, but..." she spoke frankly, one possibility forming. "Maybe it's got something to do with me before I lost my memories? The voice was a little bit familiar too."

To say the least, Terack was stunned by the confession. "Whoa, that's interesting. I wonder if it means you could recover your memories..." he responded, until he saw Flutter's uneasy expression and abruptly changed the topic. He didn't mean to make her uncomfortable there. "Hey, you know what? I'd still like to use Team Celeste even if you didn't mean it as a name idea. If it's something important to you as a human, then I'd want it to be important for me too. You _are_ the one I want to go on this path with; what friend would I be if I didn't care about your thoughts and problems?"

This was highly affecting and uplifting for the amnesiac human, and perhaps the nicest thing he'd said to her so far. Flutter wanted to say she was used to this kind of thing from him already but that would be a complete lie. "Th-thanks... It really means a lot that you care, you know? I'm glad I've got your support while I'm going through all this."

"Hey, don't sweat it. I'm just doing what my dad taught me." Terack replied, happy to be making a visible difference in her life. He saw Flutter's interest in what he said and continued his train of thought. "Oh, speaking of him, I promised that I'd send him a letter once I found the partner I wanted to make a team with. Another reason why I'm glad to have you is that you've got hands to write with for me." the Trapinch quipped with a chuckle. "We'll have this day to ourselves after the forms and letter are sent off. You should train at the Meditite Dojo afterwards, and then I've got a story for you."

Flutter was undoubtedly intrigued. What was it that Terack wanted to tell her?

* * *

The Meditite Dojo, situated south of Pokémon Square's main plaza, was a recently established service that aimed to cater for any sort of Pokémon who wanted to explore dungeons for a living, whether they were in a Rescue Team or just wanted the thrill and excitement of such. Perhaps its most lauded feature was the abundance of mystery dungeon simulations; they replicated the real thing's bizarre tendency to resculpt their landscape with each visit, but most importantly and unlike real dungeons, there was no risk of falling to the Wind if one got lost within them. The dojo's founder, Meditite, had already received high praise from many who had sought to practice for or simply experience dungeon exploration in a safe environment.

While this was nice and Terack would have indeed liked to take a few of these on, they weren't why he decided to bring her here. Meditite herself was well-connected, and when Terack explained Flutter's Foresight woes to her, she was quick to contact a friend from her days as a solo explorer. In addition to the prior service, visitors could be instructed on a move or even be taught a new one if an experienced Pokémon happened to stop by.

And so it was that an elated and ecstatic Flutter, after a lengthy exercise where she picked out the right Lucario through his Double Team clones no less than fifty times in a row, finally struck gold by pulling off Foresight at will. Lucario had been complimentary of her achievement, having known since the tenth success that all she really needed was to get used to the move through repetition. It pleased Terack to see the results; he knew it would be a great boost to her own confidence.

Following all that, Terack had bought some celebratory Brown and Cream Gummis from the nearby Kecleon Shop for them to share with some apples while the still delighted Flutter got to tell a nearby Caterpie all about them starting a Rescue Team, and then spent the rest of the day around a table in Flutter's house getting to know each other a little more. Terack finally got to share the story he wanted to tell her yesterday, and it explained a great deal of his overly generous and accomodating behaviour towards her.

It turned out that this wasn't Terack's first time looking after someone with memory loss; his own late mother had been stricken with amnesia after a bad accident. The Flygon had been caught in a freak hurricane mid-flight that sent her careening to the ground at some speed. It broke Flutter's heart to think about one of his parents not remembering him at all, but the respect she held for him had absolutely skyrocketed when he described how he and his father had pulled together to make the rest of her life as happy and fulfilling as they possibly could. The memories from prior to the accident were not recovered but through their efforts, she ultimately passed on feeling cherished by the family she didn't remember meeting.

Now Flutter understood why Terack made a point of asking if he could tell his dad about his teammate being an amnesiac, and she was glad to have allowed it. Undoubtedly he would be very proud of his boy.

Come the next morning, Flutter was woken up from another of her fruitless dreams by an excited Terack practically demanding for her to come outside. She did so, and saw the Trapinch standing next to a parcel with three letters attached to it. "Look, it's here! They've sent us our starter kit!" he called joyfully.

It was almost as though someone had splashed Flutter with a pail of cold water; she was instantly wide awake and helping him unwrap their delivery. The first letter, though it had some helpful information about the function of their new Rescue Team badges, was quite bog-standard and likely handed out to every new team, while the simple little satchel bag had a few apples and various berries inside. It was a small bag, Flutter noticed, probably because this organisation knew from the registration forms what species they were.

While Terack went to top up this contribution with a few apples of their own, Flutter looked at one of the two badges that were also in the parcel. Both badges were identical; they were white and oval shaped with similarly coloured wings on both the left and right sides. Flutter rather liked the overall design.

"Now let's see those other letters." Terack started after he came back with the bag and set it down on the grass for Flutter to put the badges in for now. "Whoa, seriously? I didn't know they gave new teams a couple of fresh job requests too!" he spoke in surprise. Indeed, these were some calls for help from Pokémon who had gotten themselves into trouble at low-threat dungeons like the Tiny Woods and Thunderwave Cave. "And they're ideal for beginners too!" the Trapinch noted enthusiastically.

"Good to hear. You kids couldn't manage anything beyond that level anyway." a condescending voice insisted. Flutter and Terack looked up from reading those letters and found themselves face-to-face with a Gengar, flanked by an Ekans and Medicham, all of whom bore expressions that radiated malice.

"Keh, now isn't this as bad as I said? These two children think they could run a Rescue Team out of that worthless dump? That's a joke if I ever heard one!" the Gengar continued, getting titters from his two lackeys.

To say Flutter was displeased at the jab towards her house would be a tremendous understatement. The dump this guy just criticised was her much valued walls and roof, a place in this foreign world that she could truly call her own. While Terack was too stunned by the blunt callousness of his words, it was obvious Gengar had already touched a nerve in Flutter. "Who are you and why should we bother caring about _your_ opinion?" she suddenly pressed him, almost as though by instinct, with an icy tone that betrayed her indignation.

"Ooh, someone thinks she's got guts, standing up to us so quickly." Gengar remarked, more amused by her reaction than anything else. He'd seen her type before and they were perhaps the most fun to kick around. "Alright dear, if you insist. I'm Gengar. Behind me are Ekans and Medicham" he introduced himself and the two with him; Ekans acknowledged this with a light hiss while Medicham gave them a nod that would have been considered respectful if not for a mean quality to her eyes. "We're not here to solely belittle what you intend to pass off as your little rescue base however. There's something else we're after. Ekans, do your stuff!" he said to the serpentine cohort.

"With pleasure." Ekans exclaimed, his eyes glowing red as he slithered forwards. Within a few moments his Glare had paralyzed both Terack and Flutter, robbing them both of their movements. After this, swiping the job requests that were now in Flutter's hands was nothing more than child's play for him.

Hidden within the trees behind Gengar, a certain witness to this scene very nearly lost his cool there and began angrily scribbling something down on a piece of paper from one of his cloak pockets. "You're at it again?! I am _**so** fed up with this!_" they growled to themselves, watching Gengar with a fury that made Flutter's pale in comparison.

Now they'd crossed the line for Terack too. "Hey, those are ours!" he angrily called once the paralysis had dissipated, Ekans now back with the group and the jobs now in Gengar's hands, and Flutter actually too angered to form a coherent sentence. With both victims furious and the trio continuing to smirk, it appeared as though a fight would kick off at any minute. The situation was fast boiling over.

"Kekekeh! We happen to be a Rescue Team too, and of the Gold Rank may I add! Why do you rookies even bother when we're far more equipped for these things than you? Just give it up while you're far behind us and _maybe_ we'll g-" Gengar retorted, only stopping when he felt something akin to a spot of rain hit his back. "Hm? We weren't forecast rainy weather today..." he muttered, looking behind him to see where that came from while his teammates kept an eye on Flutter and Terack just in case.

Behind him was a piece of paper that certainly hadn't been there earlier, sent by the same Pokémon who shot a single, drastically weakened black projectile from Payback just to get Gengar's attention. It was tied up by some string and rolled around a rod of... black coloured ice?

Gengar audibly groaned. He _hated_ that guy.

"Fine." Gengar conceded, looking considerably displeased. "We'll leave you be for now. We already have what we came for, anyway. Let's go." he demanded of Ekans and Medicham, leaving without even taking the time to read that latest warning message. This wasn't the first of its kind he'd gotten.

Flutter and Terack didn't really understand what all that was about, but Terack quietly approached and bit off the string so Flutter could smooth out and read the note that made those three back off.

You're unbelievable, you know that?

Gengar, I have told you and your deplorable little band time and time again to stop harassing all the new Rescue Teams. Most of your victims lost confidence and disbanded, which forces more work on the less numerous veteran teams.  
I don't care what rank your disgraceful team is when it was built up at the expense of new rescuers like those two. Your stature is _not_ an excuse. If you refuse to cease these actions then I _will_ be forced to take this matter into my own hands.

Consider this your very last warning. I won't be so merciful if you decide to keep this up.

**The Black Ice**

"Whoa, and here I thought I despised those three." Flutter remarked, stunned by the raw outrage this Black Ice individual managed to express in mere writing. Without doubt, these were the most furious words she had ever seen. If a letter could shout and scream then this one would be near-deafening in its volume.

Her anger soon gave way to concern as she asked if Terack was ok, glad to hear the affirmative. "What do we do now, Terack? That horrible group stole those jobs..." she asked him, apprehension in her voice. As Terack was about to respond, he felt something moving around underground...

"So you're Flutter and Terack? The ones who saved young Caterpie? We need your... Oh dear, you can't see us. I do apologize, that was very rude." The two Pokémon in question looked around at the call of their names before a Dugtrio popped up next to them. "We're Dugtrio. As we were saying, we need your help."

Flutter was mildly startled by the Ground-type's emergence from below but went over to talk, as this Pokémon seemed less likely to mess with her and Terack than their last trio of visitors had been. "Yeah, that's us. How can we help?"

The Dugtrio looked calm, but something in his six eyes made it clear that this was a matter worth concern. "Earlier this morning, our son Diglett was abducted by a Pokémon called Skarmory and... and carried off towards a dungeon. His friend Caterpie suggested that we find you two."

Terack was almost rigid once more, this time now with concern. "W-what? This Skarmory made off with your kid?!" he called out. Strange natural disasters were one thing, but a Pokémon actively seeking to kidnap another was rather less common. "Do you know why?" the Trapinch asked.

"We're not really sure, but-" Dugtrio started "-she looked completely deranged, screeching that we'd had this coming for a long time, whatever that means. Do go and get prepared if you need to, but please help us! We can show you the way."

Dugtrio's recollection of Skarmory's words worried Flutter most of all: This was nothing less than a premeditated kidnapping, and not to mention it was an incident that exposed another child to the greatest danger a mystery dungeon could provide. What else could she possibly say?

"Of course. Of course we'll help." she solidly stated, exhibiting a resolve that both surprised and impressed her teammate. Had the obscured onlooker still been around, he would have been quietly pleased too. "We get prepared, then Team Celeste will either succeed or fail trying."

* * *

Soon enough, the team had jumped straight into the mission at hand. Flutter was glad to finally have some form of consistent offence in the form of Secret Power thanks to a TM given to them by a kindly Kangaskhan. It was certainly proving useful in their bid to save Diglett, as was Terack's newly learned Sand Tomb once they got a few floors in.

It couldn't be said that this was a cakewalk though. By virtue of their typing, the Steel-type Pokémon living here were holding their own against Flutter's new move. She was needing Terack's assistance against them and was therefore rather relieved when they began closing in on the peak of Mount Steel. By all accounts, this wasn't the tallest mountain around but in this job, but smaller dungeons were naturally preferred when it came to taking on rescue jobs.

"Alright, we're nearly at the top and there's nowhere else to look. Where could that kid be?" Terack wondered aloud on the way there. "W-we gotta find him quick; I don't know how long its been since Skarmory took him here..."

Going into this job, Terack had mentally accepted that sometimes it might not be easy. There was always, _always_ the chance that they could someday arrive too late to save someone from the Wind. The best teams weren't the ones who never failed, but the ones who never gave up in spite of their failures. Losses shaped, not defined. Despite that, this was one task where he _absolutely didn't_ want to come up short.

Of course, the ability to trudge on from defeat was never an excuse to not give 100%. If you expected to lose and thus nonchalantly waltzed in with no thought or urgency, he thought, well, that would be on your head. In a situation where someone's very being was at risk, it would be an affront to that poor Pokémon if a rescuer was to give nothing other than their very best effort.

The ones who tried with all they had, and lost, yet got back up again and kept going with their work regardless; they were the heroes that Musanokair and the rest of the world deserved. Terack doubted even the famous Team A.C.T. had a flawless record.

"There he i- Hey! YOU!" Flutter suddenly barked once they reached the peak proper, snapping Terack out of his reverie. In front on them, on this grey summit surrounded by smaller and more ordinary mountains, was a bird made of metal who was aggressively jamming a clawed foot into a small hole, as if trying to grab something that looked a lot like Dugtrio to Flutter's eye. Terack was stunned, not only by the sight, but also by how thunderous Flutter sounded in her call.

Having already pieced the situation together, his amnesiac and often anxious friend was _livid_ to see Skarmory indeed attacking Diglett with seemingly no provocation. "Yes, YOU! Stop attacking him and explain yourself! Why did you take that kid to the top of a dungeon?!" Flutter vehemently demanded out of her.

**"EaRtHqUaKeS! tOo MaNy EaRtHqUaKeS!"** Skarmory simply roared back, sounding scared and angry and overall just very, very off. If Flutter wasn't so outraged by Skarmory's actions, she'd be shaken by the warbling tone in her voice **"T-ThEy CoMe AlMoSt EvErY nIgHt! I cAn'T sLeEp! BuT i... I fOuNd ThE pRoBlEm!"** she declared, as though she expected them to be proud of her and conduct songs of worship in her name. **"HiM! tHiS bOy AnD tHe ReSt Of HiS kInD aRe BeHiNd ThEm!"**

Then it hit Terack. While Diglett could be saved, Skarmory had evidently succumbed to the Wind at some point in the past. She was beyond help.

"I know you're scared of all the earthquakes, but that doesn't give you any excuse to target Diglett! Many researchers have already ruled them out as a cause!" the Trapinch insisted, hoping against hope that he could somehow spark something in this Pokémon. He did remember what the Beldum said about the Wind's victims, but he truly didn't want to give up on someone who might have been, once upon a time, just like him. Indeed, he saw similarities; both of them just wanted the earthquakes and other disasters to end. "Please, just let him go and we won't have any problems...!" Terack almost begged.

**"YoU dArE dEfEnD tHeM?! i Am WoRkInG tO _sToP_ tHe EaRtHqUaKeS! lEaVe NoW oR i'Ll FiNiSh YoU tOo!"** Skarmory furiously screeched, totally void of rational thought as should be expected. It almost made Terack want to choke up, he really didn't expect to be in such a situation so early in this career.

"I-I'm sorry, Terack... but we have to take her down. Even if we can't do anything for Skarmory, we can still help Diglett. Please don't hold back." Flutter murmured softly, having now come to the same conclusion as him. It pained her too, yes, but if they could come out of this with the innocent child then it would all be worth it for her.

With that, the determined former human took a solitary step towards their foe. "We're leaving here with him, Skarmory, no matter how much you scream and yell at us. Get out of our way." Flutter spoke back without so much as flinching. The unmoving, unyielding expression of determination on her face was a surprise to her own teammate, who had never seen this side of her before.

Though meek and small as she might look, Flutter wasn't afraid to toss around a defiant tongue in the face of adversity; this personality trait was one she held in her human days and it had been reawakened by the anger she'd felt towards Team Meanies earlier. Now her open resistance and boldness, after days of being quashed by nerves and uncertainty, was coming to the fore.

The armored bird growled at her opposition and quickly scraped one foot again the ground to kick up a Sand Attack to Flutter's face, a sudden action which served to put her completely off guard while she tried to clear the sand from her eyes. Skarmory immediately took flight and advanced upon her until she found her own sand turning around seemingly by itself to trap her in a whirling tornado of the stuff. Terack's Sand Tomb had done the job of drawing Skarmory's attention away from Flutter. "That was a really sneaky move of hers. Are you ok there?" he asked her. His head was in the game now.

"Y-yeah, thanks for helping me out." she replied. Her eyes still stung a little bit but she had gotten most of the sand out, enough to clearly see Skarmory escape Terack's Sand Tomb by flying upwards in a spinning corkscrew motion, diving down upon the two afterwards with her wings outstretched in a vicious Drill Peck. Terack took the brunt of it and nearly fell off the mountain while Flutter was clipped upwards by one of those sharp wings while trying to avoid her attack.

Choosing to focus on that airborne target for now, Skarmory then grabbed Flutter's egg shaped body with one of her feet. Her claws on that foot then started glowing a metallic silver colour as she tightened her Metal Claw grip on her and began carrying her high enough to avoid any further Sand Tomb hits from Terack, effectively reducing the battle to a one-on-one affair as the bag she held fell down to the stone ground. All Terack could do right now was cry out.

Skarmory wasn't even spewing out coherent words anymore, but nontheless she was yelled at the Togepi trapped in her Metal Claw's strengthening hold while also affecting her with the glowing red gaze of Leer, intending to break through that tough eggshell and finish her off here and now. Though it was _immensely_ painful to endure, Flutter managed to pull out Secret Power as her form of revenge for that blindside Sand Attack, her whole body giving off a pink energy that travelled up Skarmory's body through contact and caused her to crash land in a confused, stupefied daze.

"I didn't know Secret Power could do that... Ow, ow, ow!" Flutter mumbled as she pulled herself loose from the slackened grasp of the completely incoherent bird and crawled away, hurting all over. "Terack, please cover for me. I need an Oran Berry to shake that off..." the ailing Togepi gasped. She thought it safe to take a short breather and leave the battle while their opponent was incapable of attack. Glad that she was out of that situation, Terack took upon a blue outline with Focus Energy before repeatedly lunging at Skarmory with Bite, his jaws glowing blue with each and every hit. Slowly but surely, Team Celeste were beginning to eke out some sort of upper hand.

Eventually, however, Skarmory snapped out of her confusion and shook Terack off her back, following this up by avoiding a move from Flutter's Metronome where small bolts of yellow electricity fell like a shower and illuminated the battlefield in a yellow glow upon contact. Another Drill Peck was soon prepared, only for a sudden Take Down to smash hard into her back for _much_ more damage than usual. Skarmory passed out upon impact with the mountain's summit, unable to continue.

Though pleased, Flutter and Terack were also confused. It had all ended so suddenly...

"Whew! I'm glad that worked!" the intervenor gasped, shrugging off the recoil damage he sustained from his finishing attack as the yellow glow faded out. The Celeste members were shocked to see this familiar face.

"Wow! Metang?!" Flutter exclaimed. She couldn't believe it, not only had their rescue target from two days ago managed to find them, but he'd also finished off their difficult opponent in a single blow. "H-How did you...?!"

"How did I find you? I came to visit, but you weren't at your house. Dugtrio was waiting there and he told me about the situation. How did I do that? Your Metronone chose a move called Ion Deluge, which temporarily turns Normal-type moves like Take Down into the Electric-type, which is super-effective on Skarmory. It's fortunate I got there in time to notice that." he explained in depth. "Also, call me Kyan now. I managed to come up with my own name yesterday." the Metang revealed, sounding in a much better mood than when they first met him. 

That was a heartening bit of news after the harrowing situation they were in. "Well done, I'm so glad for you!" Terack insisted. "Anyway, we should get Diglett out of here before we talk more. I do wish we could have been here to save Skarmory from the Wind..." he wistfully trailed off, looking at her unconscious self. This would be his big regret today.

"I-If it helps, I did some reading into Rescue Teams yesterday after Caterpie told me you were setting one up." Kyan interjected, having an idea. "All official Rescue Team badges are connected though an aura link set up by someone from the Pokémon Rescue Organisation. This lets you easily communicate with another team, should you ever need some sort of backup during dungeons." he told the two. "You just need to gently place your arm or foot or other appendage on that button in the middle. If you're its registered owner, the badge will connect you to the aura link and record a spoken message to a team of your choice. The rare reports of Windlost Pokémon leaving their dungeon and attacking others are always treated with the utmost importance."

While Flutter approached Diglett's hole and gently assured him that he was safe, Terack continued speaking with Kyan. "Oh, I see! A more experienced team can make sure she doesn't do this again? That does help..." Terack murmured, looking relieved. Truth was, he didn't have it in him to give Skarmory that sweet release. It was sad, but if she was a danger to others in her present condition then they still couldn't just leave her out cold. "Who should I send that message to?" he wondered.

"Team A.C.T." Kyan insisted. "They're the best around. If anyone can do it, they can."

Unbeknownst to the group of Pokémon, they were being watched. A Salamence was perched upon another peak nearby with the Golduck who saw Flutter during her first day standing on his back; both had been listening to and observing the whole battle. "Hah! Rubix, they actually beat that mad bat!" the Salamence enthusiastically responded to the Golduck.

Unlike his colleague, he wasn't as thrilled or impressed by what he'd witnessed just now, nor was he interested in the sight of Flutter and Terack being instructed by Kyan. "Hmmph, I calculate this to be nothing short of dumb luck. The human and that Trapinch were very, very fortunate to have this Metang intervene." Rubix bluntly replied. "And Derkomai, don't be so loud. You might alert them to our presence."

"Of course, doctor. My mistake." Derkomai responded with a tone of humility to his voice. "What do you think of their capabilities as of now?" he asked, prompting a moment of silent thought from Rubix. "Personally, I believe the human girl's got more potential than any of the others so far..." he continued, both appraising eyes locked on the Togepi as if studying her.

Rubix simply rolled his eyes at Derkomai's open fantasy spot; he was highly used to this Salamence's history of harbouring a deep interest in waging battles against powerful or promising Pokémon, as well as the tendency to fall in with their causes. The latter trait was how he came to be in this group. "Regardless, she's still untested and inexperienced. I saw that Skarmory's first Sand Attack coming from a mile away. This human is nowhere near close to being an impediment for the time being." he insisted. "I admit she's displaying the interesting capacity for cooperation with Pokémon, but it'll take more than one example to sway him after what those foul cretins did." he spoke, with a tone of bitterness to it. If he'd been there...

"Of course, though I still must give credit where it's due; the way she escaped that Metal Claw certainly took some strength. Especially given how high up Skarmory carried her. Perhaps she could become a worthwhile adversary someday." he spoke confidently, promising to enjoy this opportunity should he ever get the chance to face her in a real battle.

Now Rubix was slightly concerned. Derkomai hadn't referred to anyone in such a fashion since he was recruited. "By all means, feel free to... savour the moment if it does come, but do not forget where your loyalties lie: Humans. Are. Still. Our. Targets." he suddenly and forcefully reminded the powerful dragon. "Remember, you swore to obey and follow when you accepted her offer. We all did." Rubix asserted.

"Yes. I understand. I shan't show any mercy when it happens." Derkomai assured him. "I see they're gone now. We should leave before the backup appears." he decided spontaneously, spreading his wings and taking off without a moment wasted.

* * *

After one quick Rescue Team badge warp, which would certainly be a learning experience for Team Celeste, the four Pokémon were now back at the team base and collecting their reward from a deeply relieved Dugtrio. It turned out that he'd overheard Flutter and Terack being accosted by Gengar's gang and, as a show of support and gratitude, gave them a rather large amount of Poké to help them through those first steps. Flutter was glad but insisted that they wouldn't have pulled off the job without Kyan's assistance, for which Dugtrio thanked him too before he and Diglett departed.

"Y'know, Kyan, I do mean it when I say you helped out a lot there. It was you knowing about Ion Deluge's effect that really made the difference out there, because I wouldn't have thought of using it with Secret Power. That was smart of you." Flutter confessed honestly, which embarrassed the Metang a little bit.

"Haha, thanks! Us four Beldum have travelled to many places and learned a lot of stuff, even before the e-evolution that fused two of our minds together. I'm glad this knowledge helped you out!" Kyan bashfully replied. "So you've formed a Rescue Team now, yeah? That's really cool of you! I hope it goes well!"

Just then, Terack himself had a wonderful idea come from out of nowhere. "Hey, you could join us if that sounds good." he proposed, which got Flutter's enthusiastic approval while Kyan looked surprised and, dare he say it, interested. "Flutter and I aren't a bad duo but... what I think we could really use is someone who knows what they're doing." the young Trapinch pitched. "I mean, I don't have a lot of experience with rescuing even though this was my dream, while Flutter... she-" he trailed off hesitantly while looking at her. "-depends on me for reasons that are her business to share. It's totally understandable and I don't regret it, believe me, but I have basically been taking care of her on my own since we met."

It wasn't that he didn't trust Kyan with the information about Flutter's still-peculiar situation; trust was, after all, essential for those in a Rescue Team. Terack steadfastly believed it was her story to tell if she felt comfortable doing so and he wasn't going to take that right away from her. She would do the same for him if the roles were reversed, he believed. "So, ah, yeah..." he continued. "I think you being in Team Celeste would be such a huge help for us two, even outside of rescue jobs. What do you think?"

There was only one problem in this for Kyan, but the rest of it seemed interesting and even fun. He had wanted to _really_ thank them for saving him before and the chance to take some of that proverbial weight off Terack's shoulders with Flutter seemed like a good way to do so.

"I would be all for this, if it weren't for one small issue." Kyan replied. "If I'm to join then it's best if we find a place nearby that I can live in. The Beldum and I are from the Southeast Peninsula and that way too far away to be convenient for rescue jobs." he informed them, cursing this bump in the road. "Ah, I'll tell you what. Since I really do want to join Team Celeste, I'll see the Beldum tomorrow and go on a serious search for a new home in the area. If we find somewhere, then I'm in; no questions asked."

"Thank you." Flutter spoke up again, grateful that he had expressed a keen interest regardless. "I hope we can have you on the team, it'll be nice if Terack has someone to help him for a change. He deserves it after helping me so much."

"Oh I hope so too, now you say it like that!" Kyan expressed, touched by her words. "Either way, whenever you feel ready to tell me what that's all about, just remember that I'm all ears."

In almost the same hidden spot as before, the disguised listener known as the Black Ice agreed with this. He would stand guard throughout the night in case the despised trio struck again.

* * *

"Hmm... Just like the message said, there's a Skarmory resting here with a Diglett-sized hole nearby."

"Not just a hole, but a battlefield. There's plenty of sand."

"And all these bite marks on this Skarmory's back! Heh, those rookies of Team Celeste did that? Not bad!"

"Charizard, shush..."

**"GrRrRrH...! h-HoW dArE yOu! I hAvE eNoUgH bAd NiGhTs WiTh JuSt EaRtHqUaKeS, AnD nOw ThErE's LoUd InTrUdErS?!"**

"A Windlost Skarmory who, driven by the earthquakes, pulled an innocent Diglett into a mystery dungeon. Team Celeste were right to contact us."

**"WhAt?! WhO aRe YoU?!"**

"I am Alakazam of Team A.C.T., and you are coming with us."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Backstory! Yay!  
More new characters! Yay!  
Chest pain! Yay?  
I haven't been feeling well since posting the previous chapter so I ended up taking a week off, this being why there was no new chapter last time. The days where I just couldn't sit down and type these words were really frustrating; I felt like I was making a commitment to anyone who's been reading this so far. It's not just comments, I appreciate each and every kudos, bookmark, even every hit that this fic gathers and want to keep these chapters going to the end.
> 
> Yeah, Celeste is something relevant to Flutter's lost past. I never did explain the origin for their team name in past versions so I hope that keeps you wondering.
> 
> The Cream Gummi was an idea that I remembered seeing on the PMDRP forum where this story first existed. I wanted to add a Gummi preferred by Fairy-type Pokémon. Imagine it as a pale pink thing, like a mix between the White and Pink Gummies. I don't think it'll be a focal point but at least it exists!
> 
> Team Meanies will probably get a different name or continue to go unnamed in Amethyst Rescuers. My goal with these three was to make them more of a problem than they were in the games (I have really fun plans for Sinister Woods next), but there's probably no way I could do that with their canon name while keeping the threat believable. It makes them too... obviously crooked, you know?
> 
> The guy behind that letter towards Gengar? Let me tell you, he was an absolute joy to write and will have an big role later on. Derkomai is someone to keep an eye on too.
> 
> Stay tuned and, if you'd like, let me know that you think!


End file.
